Current affairs September 14 – September 20, 2026 for CUET

Retail inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index, now on the base year 2024=100, was 4.82 per cent in August 2026 (provisional), up from 4.45 per cent in July: 5.23 per cent in rural and 4.31 per cent in urban areas. Food inflation, by the Consumer Food Price Index, was 5.95 per cent. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the figures on 14 September 2026.

On 14 September 2026 Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Uruguay's Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin, for Uruguay's pro tempore presidency of MERCOSUR, announced the launch of negotiations to expand the India–MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement to more areas of mutual interest. The two sides are finalising the terms of reference for the expanded agreement.

The 22nd edition of the India–US joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas opened on 15 September 2026 at the Foreign Training Node, Auli, in Uttarakhand, and ran at the same time at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, with about 600 soldiers from each side. It trained for integrated battle groups in mountainous terrain, with drones and autonomous systems for surveillance.

The veteran actor Anant Nag has been named for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2024, to be conferred at the 72nd National Film Awards ceremony scheduled for 22 September 2026 at Kevadia, Gujarat. The award carries the year 2024 because it belongs to that year's National Film Awards, even though it is presented in 2026.

Nag made his acting debut in the Kannada film Sankalp and his Hindi debut in Ankur, and received the Padma Bhushan in 2025. The award was instituted in 1969, when it was presented to Devika Rani. It carries a Swarna Kamal medallion, a shawl and ₹10 lakh.

On 16 September 2026 the Union Cabinet approved the Ministry of Labour and Employment's proposal to raise the wage ceiling for mandatory EPFO coverage from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month. The ceiling had last been raised in September 2014, when it went to ₹15,000.

More than 51 lakh additional employees are expected to come under mandatory coverage. EPFO runs three schemes, the Employees' Provident Fund, the Employees' Pension Scheme and the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme. It has about 7.98 crore contributing members in about 7.68 lakh establishments, and the pension scheme pays about 82 lakh pensioners. Those figures describe EPFO as it already is, and they sit in the same release as the 51 lakh, which is the one about the change.

PM Vishwakarma, run by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for traditional artisans and craftspeople, completed three years on 17 September 2026, marked in Kolkata. Since its launch on 17 September 2023, 30 lakh beneficiaries have registered and about 24.5 lakh have received basic skill training; the scheme also gives modern toolkits, collateral-free credit and market support. West Bengal joined the scheme in May 2026.

Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 began on 17 September 2026 with the theme 'Swachhata Mein Sahbhag; Swachh Bharat, Viksit Bharat'. Observed every year since 2017, the campaign is organised jointly by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (Ministry of Jal Shakti) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and leads up to 2 October, when special Gram Sabhas are held.

The Reserve Bank's annual survey finds that India's software services exports rose 8.2 per cent in 2025-26, to US$ 221.4 billion. Counting services delivered by the foreign affiliates of Indian companies, the total rose 9.5 per cent, to US$ 239.3 billion.

The United States stayed the main destination, with a 54.1 per cent share, followed by European countries with 31.8 per cent. 91.7 per cent of the exports were delivered off-site. The US dollar was the main invoicing currency, followed by the euro, the rupee and the pound sterling.

On 18 September 2026 in Bengaluru, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over two Light Combat Aircraft Tejas twin-seat trainers, built to the Final Operational Clearance standard, and three HTT-40 basic trainers to the Indian Air Force, and four Dhruv Next Generation helicopters to Pawan Hans Limited, in the presence of the Defence and Civil Aviation Ministers.

From 1 October 2026 domestic LPG consumers need to have completed Biometric Aadhaar Authentication to book refills at the regulated price with subsidy. It links each connection to a verified person so that subsidised cylinders are not diverted to commercial use and duplicate connections are removed. It can be done at delivery through the oil company's app, at the distributor's showroom or by other means; those who have done it once need not repeat it.